1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a bill handling machine and, in particular, to a bill handling machine that can store a bill, which has been deposited through a bill deposit/withdrawal unit, in a storage unit that is separated from the bill deposit/withdrawal unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known a machine including: a bill deposit/withdrawal unit that can conduct a bill depositing process and a bill refunding process, and a storage unit (safe unit) that can store bills that have been deposited through the bill deposit/withdrawal unit, from Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-329975. In the machine, the bill deposit/withdrawal unit and the storage unit are separated, so that protection against theft may be improved because there are no bills in the bill deposit/withdrawal unit.
In addition, in the machine, the bill deposit/withdrawal unit and the storage unit are disposed apart from each other. The bill deposit/withdrawal unit and the storage unit are connected with each other via an air tube. The air tube is adapted to transfer the bills in both directions by making use of the Venturi effect.
That is, the bills are transferred through the air tube by air pressure. Thus, the above machine has to have a source of pressured air, some actuators, some pressure-adjusting means and/or some other incidental instruments. Therefore, the machine may be extremely complicated and very costly. In addition, the air tube may become jammed with the bills because the bills are transferred together with the pressured air. Furthermore, it is difficult to surely deliver the bills into the air tube. In other words, a mechanism for delivering the bills into the air tube is unavoidably complicated.
In addition, there is known an automatic bill refunding machine that can refund a plurality of kinds of bills, as taught in Japanese Patent No. 2674899. The number of safes included in the machine varies depending on the number of kinds of bills that are ready for refunding.
In detail, the machine includes one or more box-like refunding modules that can be removably fitted in a main body of the machine and that can be piled up. The box-like refunding module has: a horizontal safe, a feeding-out part that can feed out a bill from an end part of the safe, a first passage through which the fed bill is transferred, and a second passage that connects with the first passage and that can also transfer a bill received at another position. Thus, the number of safes may be adjusted by changing the number of stacked refunding modules.
Considering the world currency situation, many kinds of bills are circulated in one country. In addition, in some countries in Europe or the like, bills of adjacent other countries are also widely used. Thus, in such a country, a financial institution such as a bank has to deal with many kinds of bills. On the contrary, there are also many cases wherein the machine that can deal with only one kind of bill is sufficient.
The above conventional machine has been developed only for refunding the bills. That is, the machine is not applicable to a circulating-type bill depositing and dispensing machine wherein the bills that have been deposited can be refunded again. In other words, there is still no circulating-type bill depositing and dispensing machine that can suitably keep up with an increase or decrease in the number of kinds of bills.
Therefore, the object of this invention is to provide a bill handling machine comprising a bill processing unit that can be operated by customers and a storage unit that can store bills that have been deposited. The bill processing unit and the storage unit are separated, and the bills are surely transferred without complicated mechanisms and with improved protection against theft.
In addition, the object of this invention is to provide a circulating-type bill depositing and dispensing machine that can effectively function in various ways, for example when many kinds of bills have to be dealt with, when only small kinds of bills (in particular, only one kind of bill) have to be dealt with, or when a plurality of kinds of stored bills are allowed to intermingle with each other.
Thus, this invention is characterized by the following features. That is, this invention is a bill handling machine comprising: a bill processing unit into which a bill is fed and in which the bill is discriminated; a storage unit that can receive and store the bill that has been discriminated and approved by the bill processing unit; a partition that separates the bill processing unit and the storage unit; and a passage opening formed in the partition through which the bill passes.
According to these features, the bill processing unit and the storage unit are separated by the partition, and the bill processing unit and the storage unit are connected with each other only via the passage opening through which the bill can pass. Thus, the bills stored in the storage unit may be stored safely. That is, the bills are prevented from being stolen even if the bill processing unit is destroyed.
In addition, since the bills are transferred through the passage opening formed in the partition, a distance of transfer to the storage unit may be much shorter. Thus, the possibility that a jam the passage with the bills will occur may be significantly reduced. Furthermore, since the passage structure does not require any special mechanisms, the machine is advantageous in cost.
Preferably, the bill processing unit may have a depositing part into which bills are inserted. In addition, the bill processing unit may have a refunding part from which the bill that has been discriminated and not approved is paid back. In addition, the bill processing unit may have a temporary storing part in which the bill can be temporarily stored.
For example, the partition may be a door of a safe that can open and close, and the bill processing unit can be provided on the door in such a manner that the bill processing unit can open and close with respect to the door. The storage unit can be arranged in the safe, the passage opening can be formed in the door, and a bill passage of the bill processing unit and the passage opening can be aligned with each other when the bill processing unit closes with respect to the door. The door can be operated to open and close when the bill processing unit opens with respect to the door.
Alternatively, the partition can be a wall of a vault, the bill processing unit can be provided on an outside of the wall, the storage unit can be arranged in the vault, the passage opening can be formed in the wall, and a bill passage of the bill processing unit and a bill passage of the storage unit can be coupled to each other via the passage opening.
Alternatively, the partition can be a wall between a lobby room and a second room, the bill processing unit can be provided on a lobby-room side oft he wall, the storage unit can be arranged in the second room, the passage opening can be formed in the wall, and a bill passage of the bill processing unit and a bill passage of the storage unit can be coupled to each other via the passage opening.
In the above cases, the bill handling machine may be adapted to function as a circulatory-type bill depositing and dispensing machine.
Alternatively, this invention is characterized by the following features. That is, this invention is a circulating-type bill depositing and dispensing machine comprising: a bill processing unit that can conduct a bill depositing process and a bill dispensing process; a storage unit that can receive and store bills that have been deposited through the bill processing unit and that can feed out the bills; and a storage cassette that can receive and store the bill that has been fed out from the storage unit and that can feed out the bill. The storage cassette is arranged behind the storage unit in a column-like manner, and a second storage cassette, which can receive and store the bill that has been fed out from the storage cassette and which can feed out the bill, can be serially arranged behind the storage cassette in a column-like manner.
According to these features, the number of storage cassettes may be easily changed. That is, it may be easy to keep up with an increase or a decrease in the number of kinds of stored bills and/or an increase or a decrease in the amount of stored bills.
For example, the storage cassette has: a storage bin arranged therein; a depositing passage through which the bill is sent to the storage bin; and a dispensing passage through which the bill is fed out from the storage bin. The depositing passage and the dispensing passage can connect with a depositing passage and a dispensing passage of the serially arranged second storage cassette.
In this embodiment, preferably, the storage cassette has two storage bins that have the same structure and are vertically arranged. The bill is adapted to be selectively sent from the depositing passage to the respective two storage bins, and the bill is adapted to be selectively fed out from the respective two storage bins to the dispensing passage.
In addition, preferably, the bill is adapted to be sent to the storage bin through an upper portion of the storage bin and fed out from the storage bin through a lower portion of the storage bin. The storage bin has: a feeding-out unit arranged at a lower portion of the storage bin, which can feed out the bill pressed thereto; a stage that is vertically movable in the storage bin and that can receive and accumulate bills sent through the upper portion of the storage bin thereon; a pressing body that can press the bills accumulated on the stage to press a lowest bill of the bills to the feeding-out unit, the pressing body being entirely or partly made of a magnetic material; and an electromagnet arranged at an upper portion of the storage bin for sticking to and holding the pressing body when the stage is moved up in order to allow the bills to be sent onto the stage. The electromagnet is adapted to release the pressing body in such a manner that the pressing body falls on and holds the accumulated bills when the accumulated bills are fed out or the storage cassette is pulled out.
In addition, preferably, the storage cassette has an outside shell and an inside shell that is fitted in the outside shell. The depositing passage and the dispensing passage are arranged in the outside shell, the storage bin is arranged in the inside shell, and the inside shell is removable from the outside shell and is portable.